


The struggle with living with your parents Pt. 2

by TheSSChestHair



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 21:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7137044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSSChestHair/pseuds/TheSSChestHair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma invites David and Snow to stay with her and Killian while the loft undergoes some renovations. But living with her parents and toddling baby brother turns out to be more difficult than she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The struggle with living with your parents Pt. 2

It was a terrible idea.

When her parents had told her of their plans to renovate the loft into a more child friendly environment now that her little brother was walking, she’d been more than determined that they stay with her and Killian.

_“I’m not having you living out of Granny’s, we’ve got tons of room at ours.”_ She’d told them and she’d meant it. They’d taken her in and cared for her ever since she came to Storybrooke and it was her chance to repay that favor. They were her family – of course she’d open her home to them - she did have three bedrooms after all.

But it was still a terrible idea.

 

It hadn’t started off that bad, Emma was actually quite excited to have her parents stay with her. She would never admit it, but deep down she was looking forward to being the provider for once. She wasn’t a housewife, not by a long shot, but she still wanted to show off her home, wanted to make them proud at how great she’d become at cooking, caring and providing. It was a silly thing to want, but the inner child in her was eager to shine for mom and dad.

The first day had them turning up late in the afternoon, suitcases bulging with all their basics.

The dwarves and Marco had agreed to work together to renovate the loft, turning it into a better functioning home for a family rather than a shabby-chic hangout for two single women. This of course meant the place would have to be vacated.

“It should only be for a week or so.” Snow assured her daughter.

Emma had protested it was fine, welcoming both parents and little brother inside. Killian had greeted them, maneuvering their bags out of the way with a hesitant smile on his face. He was more than happy to have Emma’s family stay with them; he was just weary over their feelings of living with himself and Emma under one roof. He had a feeling the situation might become a little uncomfortable, especially with David and he sharing close quarters, but he’d hidden his doubts for Emma’s sake..

Henry had chosen to come bounding down the stairs and announce he was off to his other mom’s with his own bag slung over his shoulder.

“No offense mom, but my other mom more space. Neal can take my room. I’m doing you guys a favor.” He’d explained when Emma had shown reluctance to let him leave.

“Is this one of your teenage moments where you say you’re thinking of us but really you’re just happy to get away?” she grilled the boy.

She couldn’t blame him; he was almost fourteen – no teenager would willingly want to be stuck in a house with four adults and a toddler… not when there was a mansion across town he could have all to himself.

She let him go, much to Henry’s relief.

“Why don’t I show you up to your room.” Killian offered as he and David grabbed their luggage. They were settled into the spare room, impressed with the size and décor of the place. It was situated at one end of the hallway with the master bedroom at the other, and Henry’s room (now Neal’s) in-between.

They’d unpacked and joined Emma and Killian downstairs, offering to help the two with dinner, only to be declined. Once dinner had been eaten and enjoyed, Snow was once again refused on her offer to help clean up, so found herself settling Neal down for the night in hopes he wouldn’t be too fussy at sleeping in a strange bed.

The rest of the evening had gone just as smoothly, with Snow basking in the homely feel surrounding her.

“This is nice.” She’d announced as her and David sat on the couch opposite Emma and Killian, who occupied the other seat, wrapped up in an embrace. Both couples were focused on the television, winding down from the day. Snow had noticed her husband’s slight tenseness at the situation, causing her to rub comforting circles into his chest to ease him from his discomfort.

They’d managed to go to bed happy and woke to find that happiness had remained throughout the night.

 

It had taken two days before the familial bliss began to crack.

 

Snow woke slowly, unsure of what had made her wake in the dead of the night. She was about to drift back off into slumber when she felt the blankets being pulled from the bottom of the bed. Looking down, she noticed the two little hands grabbing the covers and pulling her little boy up onto the bed. She climbed out and retrieved him from the end of the bed, baffled as to how he’d managed to make his way into their room.

“What are you doing up, mister? Can’t sleep?” she cooed softly, not wanting to wake her husband.

“Monster.” Neal mumbled as Snow carried him out into the hall and back to Henry’s room.

“There’s no monsters.” Snow soothed as they entered the child’s bedroom.

Snow placed the boy onto the bed and sat beside him. She was about to tell him a story in hopes of getting him back to sleep when she became aware of a dull, repetitive thudding. Confusion turned to shock when the realization of what the thudding actually was, and where it was coming from.

“Monster.” Neal repeated.

“You know what? You can sleep with daddy and me tonight.” Snow told Neal, much to the boy’s glee. She picked him up and carried him back to her room, nestling him in between herself and David.

 

She couldn’t help the blush on her cheeks or the inability to look either Emma or Hook in the eye the next morning. She’d waved off her daughter’s concern, blaming her awkwardness on a sleepless night.

“I woke up to find a visitor in our bed.” David informed them as he tickled Neal in his arms.

“He had a nightmare I think.” Snow lied, not wanting to bring up the real reason for why her son was sleeping with them.

“Monster.” Neal babbled, earning him an ‘aww’ from his big sister.

Snow let the incident fade away from her in hopes that it wouldn’t come up again, focusing on getting Neal to eat breakfast instead.

 

* * *

 

Emma was on her way home finally. The station was up to date with paperwork and closed up for the rest of the day with calls redirected to both her and David’s cellphones. She was hoping the house would be empty when she got there, automatically feeling guilty for wishing such a thing. She was fine with her family being there, she was. But it had been five days so far and as much as she loved having them around, it was starting to feel just a little crowded and she just wanted an hour or two alone in her own home.

She was contemplating picking up something to eat from Granny’s when the memory of a chicken burrito sitting in her fridge flashed into her mind. Her stomach gurgled at the vision and it was decided. She bypassed Granny’s, driving straight home, dreaming of an hour of trash TV, burritos, a beer and silence.

 

Emma unlocked the front door, stepping inside and announcing “I’m home!” to the place, praying she’d be greeted with silence. She wasn’t so lucky when she heard her father greet her back from the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” he asked her as he chopped peppers.

“Yup. Station’s all good and both our cells are on call.” She informed him as she opened the fridge.

Emma suddenly wished she hadn’t. It was full of food… food her and Killian never bought.

“I did a little shopping. Topped up for the week.” David explained.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

_You really didn’t_. Emma thought. Everything was wrong. There was whole milk instead of her usual 2% carton, the butter was the wrong brand, she didn’t know what those green things were but she was positive she wouldn’t eat them, grapefruit juice instead of orange – it was just all wrong.

“Where’s the chicken burrito? I left it in here.” She asked.

“I threw it out. There was only two days left before it expired.”

David was oblivious to Emma’s internal rage. She closed her eyes and mentally counted to twenty before closing the fridge and heading for the cupboard. Her mood only soured when she took in the lack of snacks and different peanut butter than she was used to, residing inside.

“Don’t fill yourself up, I’m making dinner.” David warned her as he continued chopping.

“Not a problem.” She muttered in response.

 

She was cleaning out mugs at the sink when Killian arrived home. He’d greeted everyone while heading for the fridge himself. She hid her smile when she caught him stiffen at the sight of the contents inside. The confused and alarmed look he sent her was met with her helpless shrug.

“You not gonna join me for a beer?” her father’s voice broke through their private interaction.

Killian hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to approach the prince’s request.

“Aye, mate… I just erm… I’m more partial to the green bottles myself.” He politely informed him.

“Beer is beer though, am I right?” he finished with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, popping open a brown bottle and giving Emma a quick kiss to the cheek before following David to the seating area.

 

* * *

 

Day seven was when Killian had stumbled across little Neal adding his own redecorating touch to the wall in the lounge. His face was donned with pure concentration as he worked his blue crayon over the Magnolia wall, filling in the circular shapes he’d created.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be doing that, lad.” Killian advised the child with soft caution.

The boy stopped coloring and looked up at the pirate with wide eyes, unsure of how to react. Killian panicked at the fear in the boy’s face, suddenly regretful he’d startled him.

“Oh no! Neal, that’s not where we color.” Snow chastised the toddler as she entered the room. Her stern voice and the removal of his crayon from his hand broke the dam and the tears began to fall – as well as the loud sobs from his mouth. “Sorry Killian, I’ll clean it off.” She muttered as she tried to sooth Neal’s cries.

“No, no. It’s quite alright. If it keeps the lad happy, feel free.” He pleaded, extremely uncomfortable with the crying child. “It’s a rather fetching addition to the paintwork.” He joked.

“Think of the bright side. It’s good practice for you; dealing with a toddler. You never know.” She remarked as she lead the boy out of the room.

 

Killian chewed over the woman’s words for the rest of the day, which had lead to an argument later that evening when he decided to question Emma about it.

 

_“I just don’t understand why she would make that particular sort of statement.”_

_“It’s my **mom**. The moment two people get together she’s already planning the wedding **and** the baby shower in her head. Don’t take it so seriously.”_

_“But you’d tell me… if you were with child?”_

_“Killian, for the last time, I’m **not pregnant**.”_

_“As long as you’re sure, love. You know you can tell me anything-”_

_“For god’s sake – believe me when I say, there is **no way** I’m getting pregnant. Not now or anytime soon. Relax. It’s not happening.”_

_“Wait… are you saying you don’t wish to have more children?”_

_“That’s not what I meant.”_

_“Well you seem rather adamant. I have to ask, is it the having more children bit or the having more children with **me** that has you so against the idea?”_

_“Seriously?!”_

Snow was wracked with guilt as the echoes from the couple’s argument filtered through the house. She hadn’t meant to cause them to fight; when she’d made the comment, it was out of embarrassment of having to deal with her destructive toddler in someone else’s home. She wanted so badly to intervene and try smooth things over between the two, but David’s request to not get involved held her back.

When Snow was woken in the middle of the night by Neal, crawling into the bed with claims of monsters again, she knew without having to leave her room that they’d clearly patched up their differences, and any guilt she’d felt was replaced by irritation as she tucked the boy in beside her.

 

* * *

 

David came bearing the news on day nine, that the dwarves had got held up, and the work would probably take another week before it was completed.

Snow had offered to take up at the Inn, which was once again refused by Emma. She and Killian had insisted they stay put at their home… only this time there was less enthusiasm.

Dinnertime had become less social, with one person always running late. If it wasn’t Emma doing additional patrols then Killian was held up running errands. Mary Margaret would be staying late with Ashley at her ‘mommy and me’ classes or David was giving the dwarves an extra helping hand at the loft.

No one had brought up any conflicting issues so far; they seemed to be content with riding out the slight tension that had fallen over the house.

 

“David, can you bath Neal? I just haven’t got the energy tonight.” Snow asked as she lay on the bed.

“On it.” He huffed as he exited the room.

He entered Henry’s room to find it empty. “Neal?” he called, slight panic rolling over him.

“He’s in here.” Came Emma’s muffled voice from her bedroom.

David didn’t know what to expect when he opened to door, but it wasn’t this.

Emma sat cross-legged in pajamas on the bedroom floor, while Killian sat behind her, perched topless on the end of the bed and running a brush through her blonde locks. Neal was bouncing on the bed behind the pirate, using his shoulders as a balancing beam for his acrobatics.

A rush of embarrassment hit him as he took in the sight. He felt like he was interrupting something rather intimate – a private moment between a family that he shouldn’t have seen. He wanted to make a comment to Killian about appropriate clothing but bit his tongue, reminding himself that this was in-fact his house and his own private room.

“Come on you little ogre, bath time.” David teased as he entered the room hesitantly to grab the boy.

“No no no no.” Neal babbled happily as he continued to bounce behind Killian, still gripping onto his shoulders.

Killian chuckled at the boy’s protests. David caught a glimpse of the man’s left arm, realizing that this was the first time he’d seen it without its brace on. He definitely felt like he’d interrupted a private moment.

Lifting up the hyper child, he whisked both of them out of the room, bidding the couple goodnight before getting Neal bathed.

 

David did manage to comment on Killian’s inappropriateness the next morning when he’d failed to knock on the bathroom door before entering. Killian’s polite response was to inform David that the bathroom door came with a lock that was quite useful to use when the room was occupied.

 

* * *

 

Emma’s patience was starting to wear incredibly thin. She couldn’t understand it. She’d lived with her parents for over two years in their dinky little loft and never felt the amount of irritation and stress she was building up inside like she was now. Twelve days; that’s the amount of time they’d been under her roof and she was already tired of them all stepping on each other’s toes.

She wasn’t particularly happy to walk in on her mother in the laundry room, holding up a pair of men’s underwear for inspection.

“What are you doing?”

Snow jumped at her daughter’s voice. “I’m just doing a spot of laundry. You need anything washed?” she remarked, still holding the underwear up in the air.

“I did laundry two days ago…” Emma commented, noticing there was something her mother was hiding.

“I know, honey. It’s just – well, your father was complaining about his underwear feeling a little snug and he thought you might have unintentionally shrunk them. I gotta admit, Emma… they do look a little smaller.” Snow explained as she stretched and turned the underwear in her hands.

Emma stared at her blankly. Sensing that she may have upset her daughter, she began to back pedal.

“Or it could just be he’s put on a couple of pounds. I mean, I know he’s knocking back all kinds of stuff from the bakery at the station. He thinks I don’t know-”

“Mom?” Emma stopped the woman’s rambling. “You realize you’re looking at Killian’s underwear, right?”

“Oh.” Snow gasped before dropping the undergarments and turning a shade of pink.

“You honestly couldn’t tell the difference?”

“Well – I mean- it wasn’t my first thought.”

“No, your first thought was to blame my crappy laundry.” Emma bit, unable to stop her snipe.

“I wasn’t blaming you! Your father just suggested-”

“So dad’s been walking around in Killian’s underwear for the past few days?” Emma cut her off, not wanting to get into an argument with her mother.

“It might be best if we didn’t mention this to them.” Snow offered, wishing she could erase the whole situation from her memory.

“Yeah. I’m gonna go run a quick errand. Be back later.” Emma muttered as she spun on her heel and left the house once again.

She shouldn’t have been surprised; there was only one clothing shop throughout the whole of Storybrooke, but she couldn’t help but be annoyed that the first assumption from her parents was that it was her fault.

 

Snow didn’t comment when Killian thanked Emma for his new underwear later that evening; rather curious as to why his girlfriend had decided to spoil him with new threads. Emma shrugged it off as a last minute decision but he was thankful either way. David didn’t seem to notice that his own underwear was no longer pinching at the waist and was back to being a perfect fit. They’d managed to avoid a disaster amongst the guys, but it had left a rather bitter aftertaste in their own relationship.

 

* * *

 

David had woken up to find Neal once again nestled between himself and Snow for the fifth time since living with his daughter. While he didn’t mind their son sharing a bed with them, he was getting rather concerned that he was becoming too used to invading his parent’s bed, and that Snow was too soft with giving into the boy.

He’d decided to let Snow sleep in, picking up the wide-eyed toddler and taking him downstairs for breakfast.

 

Snow entered the kitchen to find David and Emma seated at the table with Neal kneeling on a chair of his own and spooning at a bowl of cereal. Killian was leaning against the sink, coffee in hand and listening intently to the conversation going on.

“What’s going on?” she asked as she took in the serious looks on their faces.

“Dad was just saying that Neal was in your bed again last night.” Emma explained. “And that it’s the sixth time since you’ve been here.”

“Well, he gets scared.” She responded, trying to shrug the issue off.

“Do you not think perhaps he should learn to sleep in his own bed?” David asked, approaching the subject with caution. “I mean, he’s going to have to when we move back to the loft.”

“It’s only for a little while, David. I don’t see the problem.”

“Dad’s got a point, mom.” Emma tried again.

“Look – he’s fine. He thinks there are monsters in the room. But it’s fine – he’s fine sleeping with us.” Snow began to get annoyed.

Emma decided to try a different tactic, ignoring her mother and turning to her brother instead.

“Neal? Is there monsters in Henry’s room?”

“Emma-”

“No, it’s okay. If there’s something in the room, he can show me and we’ll take it out. It’s not a problem.” She assured her.

“Monster.” Neal babbled.

“Uh huh. And what does it look like?” she asked him.

“Noisy monster. Boof boof boof” Neal began to chant as he used the back of the chair to thud against the table, creating an all-too familiar sound.

Silence fell upon the room as the four of them came to the realization of what Neal was hearing at night, and what he thought was a monster.

Emma jumped up from her seat, refusing to look anyone in the face as she scrambled for her coat.

“You know, I better get to work.” She muttered in her haste.

Killian dumped his mug into the sink and also inched out of the room, refusing to raise his head focusing on the ground.

“Aye, I should head out myself. I’ve a few errands to run.” He announced as he shot out of the room with equal haste.

The sound of the front door slamming remained with the two adults left in the kitchen looking equally mortified.

 

When Emma returned that evening, she was met with her parents and Killian in the foyer with their bags packed. Guilt and shame consumed her as she took in the sight.

“Oh god, I’ve chased you off. Don’t leave! I know this morning was awkward and I’m sorry – I know we haven’t been the easiest to stay with but-”

“No no! Emma it’s okay.” Snow pleaded, cutting her off. “You’re not chasing us off, I promise.”

“The loft is finished. Bashful called not long after you left this morning and told us we can go back right away.” David explained.

“Oh. Right.” She felt foolish at her sudden outburst.

“I’ve offered to help them settle in but they assure me they’ll be fine.” Killian piped up, trying to diffuse the uncomfortable silence.

“We just wanted to say thank you for having us. We may not have shown it but we’re so grateful to you both.”

“Mom, it was our pleasure. Really. Anytime.” Emma smiled as her mother pulled her in for a hug.

“Well, we’ll give you a couple days to breathe but we expect you over at ours for dinner on Sunday so you can see the place for yourself.” Her dad ordered as he began ushering his wife and son out the door.

“We’ll be there.” She promised.

“You can tell Henry he can have his room back.” He threw one last joke before offering a goodbye and making their way out of the house.

 

Emma smiled as she closed the door. She let out a heavy sigh as she turned to face Killian, the tension physically draining from her as she sagged against the door.

“Aye, love. Me too.” He chuckled as he pulled her towards him for an embrace.

“Let’s not do that again any time soon.” He pleaded.

“I should call Henry.” She mumbled before pulling back and tugging her phone out of her pocket.

“I’ll fix us a drink.” Killian kissed her forehead before heading to the kitchen.

“Hey, kid. The house is empty again. You can have your room back.” She teased.

“Awesome. I’ll be home tomorrow if that’s okay? Neal didn’t trash the place did he?” Henry jested, causing Emma to be hit with flashbacks from the morning.

She suddenly had an idea.

“Actually… you might wanna stay at Regina’s for a couple more nights.” She warned him.

“Oh no. What happened to my room?!” the boy panicked.

“Nothing. Your room is fine, I swear.” She insisted.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“We’re just gonna do a couple of little renovations to the upstairs. Nothing to worry about, I promise.” She said her goodbyes and ended the call.

Emma was never going to be able to explain to her son that she had decided to soundproof her and Killian’s bedroom, but if the last two weeks had taught her anything, it’s that it needed to be done – and soon.

She was not facing another morning like that morning again.


End file.
